Bit of Ivory

I move into my new office today! I get a real desk! And a window! And guess what– since we’re on the seventh floor, the view is spectacular. I will have to take a picture for you all.

In other news, we’ve got a test development workshop on Saturday, which involves lots and lots of paper. I think we should get some kind of badge that says “I’m a Tree Killer!” and pass it around. I know that, judging by the amount of paper piled on my desk, I would definitely be privileged to wear it at times. Especially with this new project we’ve got coming up. We put it on our agenda to replant the pine forest and make a sizable donation to the Arbor Day foundation after we print out one particular 2,000 page document. And it all has to be done after hours, of course, or the rest of our coworkers would kill us for tying up the high-speed printers.

I finished Gaudy Night last night. Look for Deep Philosophical Musings later today.

Should go back to work now.

First off, for Pat:

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!!

Second,

Kate is the BEST!!!!

She bought me Ghiradelli white chocolate syrup when she was in California. A 64-ounce bottle! I went to Orson Gygi after work and bought a pump for it, and I am happily sipping white hot chocolate as we speak. It’s yuuuuuummmmmmmmy. Kate, I’m definitely bringing some to work for you tomorrow, ’cause it’s delicious. Yum yum yum. Now I don’t have to go clear to European Connection and spend an arm and a leg.

I don’t know about a raise or anything yet, but I am going to be moving– to an office. I have to share it with the 2 temps they’re going to hire to help me with the project, but I get a window! And a door!

I am joining many of you in the Angua withdrawal. *sigh* Am drowining my sorrows in Wimsey.

And white hot chocolate, of course.

We had a potluck at work today, Irish/St. Patty’s day themed, of course. Someone brought corned beef and cabbage and cooked it in a crockpot all morning. As Kate has already informed you, the whole office smelled like Mrs. Figg’s house. Bleh.

So today we had a meeting at work, and my job just got a heck of a lot harder and more stressful. Major changes on my project. :O They’re going to hire more people to help, and–I’ll be in charge. :O :O

But this will probably mean a raise. And I’ve only been on the job for just over a week!

We had Bytheway family night tonight. Was tough without Grandpa. But still enjoyable. We played bingo, and my cousin Ashley was ‘on my team.’ We didn’t win anything, unfortunately. But my sister came home with a screwdriver set.

Nickname Meme Addendum:

If you call me:

Miss Bytheway: You’re practically no one.
Sister Bytheway: You’re someone from church, but also someone who doesn’t know my mother or who wants to give me “extra” respect. You’re *not* any of the kids in my Primary class, because I told you to call me “Emily” to differentiate myself from my mother.
Hidden Dragon: You’re either or or .
You-Know-Wholee: Well, you know who you are.
Émilie: You were one of my French teachers, except for Madame Larsen.
Marguerite: You are Madame Larsen.
My Friend: You’re Dr. Stephen Walker.
Rose or Violet: You’re Lynn Chatterton (otherwise known as Onslow), and you can’t decide which of the sisters from Keeping Up Appearances I should be that day.
Gracie Gardner: You’re Nicole, and you’re probably the only one who remembers my character name from South Pacific.
Sweetie: You’re my mom, especially when I’m on my way to bed.
Penelope: I must be wearing my Ravenclaw costume.
Minnie: You only knew me in my BBS days. Wow. I’d almost forgotten about that.
Wahleebear: You’re my uncle John, and you’re the only one I allow the privilege, so none of you even THINK about it.
Dahling: You’re Jen, especially when we speak in British accents.

Okay, I think that covers it. And since I feel like it:

10 characters from movies/tv/books that I find attractive (in no particular order):

1) Fitzwilliam Darcy (Pride and Prejudice)
2) George Knightley (Emma)
3) Henry Tilney (Northanger Abbey)
4) Gilbert Blythe (Anne of Green Gables)
5) Legolas (The Lord of the Rings)
6) Aragorn (The Lord of the Rings)
7) Will Turner (Pirates of the Caribbean)
8) Sir Percival Blakeney, Bart. (The Scarlet Pimpernel)
9) Clark Kent (Superman, specifically Lois and Clark)
10) Remus Lupin (Harry Potter)

Today was Casual Friday, of course. It seems as though it had some unusual side effects. One of my coworkers was wearing jeans, a white shirt and tie, and a sports jacket. Another one, a woman, was wearing a long-sleeved black blouse over a white t-shirt, capri jeans, white athletic socks (complete with the Champion logo on the back), and black flat dress shoes. Erm.

And now, a meme, gacked from– oh, lots of people, but posted it most recently:

If you call me:

Wahlee : You’re either a member of the fandom who doesn’t know me really well, or a member of my family.
Wahl: You’re a member of my family, or you were in my unit at Oakcrest girl’s camp (there was more than one Emily, so they called me Wahl)
Wallus de Gallus: You’re a member of my family.
Emily: You’re almost everyone in RL, or you know me pretty well online.
Em’ly: You’re one of my grandmothers, or my aunts.
Emily Anne: You’re my Grandma J, who knows perfectly well that I don’t have a middle name, but you call me it anyway (and I don’t mind. I adore the name Anne)
Em: You’re a really good friend, or my sister, or you feel comfortable giving me a nickname (which, I might add, I’m fine with. Anyone can call me Em. :P)
Emilschmee: You’re either Mikey Hardle from sixth grade, or Amy Wilson from high school.
Enemy: You’re my cousin Ashley when she was younger.
Emwy: You’re my best friend’s daughter, Rosie.
Bytheway: You’re either my high school drama teacher who could never be bothered to learn my first name, or you’re trying to be cute and make a joke.
Emily Bythway (or Bitheway or Bit-he-way and any number of mispronuciations): You’re a telemarketer. Go away.
Co-Queen of Procrastination: You’re Teri, or one of a select few online friends.
Captain for Canon, Dumbledore’s Army: You’ve seen my user title at SQ.

Hmm. That’s all the aliases I can think of.

I did 25 minutes on an elliptical machine and thought I was going to DIE. But it’s great. I felt extremely trendy, being at a fitness club. Heh.

Am very glad tomorrow’s Friday. Looxing forward to the weekend when I don’t have to get up at 6:30.

Hmmm. That’s about all I have to say tonight. Am boring, apparently.

Gacked from several people:

1. Enter your name into Google
2. Click “Image Search”
3. Pick your favorite and post it in your journal.

My full name returns three images:

Teri’s stained glass lamp

Me and my siblings in our HP costumes after seeing CoS on opening day

and

these cute kids from a school website (where, apparently, they label activities as “by the way”).

The second and third ones are certainly understandable, but how did my name come to be associated with your lamp, Teri?

Now, excuse me while I go back to reading the WGU teacher competencies and contemplate gouging my eyes out with a spork.

I signed up at Apple Fitness today. It’s a *very* nice facility– the equipment is all new and top-of-the-line, and the locker rooms have all the amenities– shampoo, conditioner, shaving gel, deodorant, hairspray, even mouthwash. I didn’t bring any clothes, so I didn’t actually work out, but I’m going to go tomorrow. I almost can’t believe it– I belong to a gym! And it’s not costing me anything! Very nice perk, that.

For some reason, I’m not feeling as stressed at this job as I was when I worked for the State, even though many of the conditions are the same. Part of it is, I think, that I’m not taking TRAX all the way downtown, which ate up a big chunk of my day. The work is still rather boring, but it’s slightly more interesting, and the atmosphere is a bit more relaxed. I dunno. I always felt slightly uneasy at the State, like I didn’t belong there. I’m already more comfortable at WGU than I was after a month at the State. Strange.

I went up to my grandmother’s tonight with my dad while he helped her with all the insurance and retirement paperwork she has to fill out. She’s still very distracted. Doesn’t want to go to sleep at night without Grandpa next to her, so she stays up late watching TV. Last night she stayed up till two watching P&P. Good show, but– *sigh*. It’s hard to see her like this.

First off, I want to say a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to Lou and Laura, who both sent me sympathy cards by Snail Mail. They meant a lot to me, and I’m extremely grateful.

Hands are feeling much better. I was more careful today. I bought a wrist rest for both my keyboard and my mouse, so that should make it even safer.

Tomorrow I’m going to Apple Fitness to sign up for my free membership. A very nice perk, that is. It will help me work off the cookie Kate brought me today, the Nummy Treat she brought me yesterday, and the candy that my coworkers insist on keeping on their desks for all to consume. Yes. Must start working out if I want to look good for .

Speaking of Wahleecon, some of you have offered to help me out with stuff. I was wondering– would one of you like to contact Best Western to inquire about possible group rates? If you would, I’d be most grateful. Let me know and I’ll give you all the info you need.

My hands hurt from using the keyboard all day. This is rather confusing to me, since I spend almost all my time on the computer whether I am employed or no. I think it has to do with the position of the keyboard– it’s too high. I raised my chair today, which helped, but it makes it difficult to pull it in far enough to get the right angle in that respect. Plus my legs are too short to reach the floor. Gah.

I’ve been writing fic and contemplating a Ginny essay (which I started doing research for at lunch today), but alas, both are postponed until my hands feel better. *sigh*